Outdoors enthusiast, amateur photographer, music teacher … playing outside, capturing images of natural beauty, and sharing our family adventures, both big and small, around the San Francisco Bay and beyond…

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Monthly Archives: July 2012

One of our goals this summer was to take our son to see a lighthouse. There are a few in the Bay Area, but my favorite has always been the Point Reyes Lighthouse (see my post from yesterday: “Point Reyes Lighthouse“). My husband and I wanted to slip in a short hike during the…

A highlight of any visit to Point Reyes National Seashore, on the California coast, thirty miles north of San Francisco, is the Point Reyes Lighthouse. Growing up, my family would visit here every January to watch the migrating gray whales. Assuming a clear day, the views from here are incredible! The lighthouse is located on…

I couldn’t resist this! Butterfly walks are offered by Sally Levinson, aka Caterpillar Lady, the 4th Tuesday of each month at the Botanical Garden at UC Berkeley, March through October. The website said children were welcome, so we decided to check it out this month with friends from my Nature Time! playgroup. This was a…

A couple weeks ago, Let’s Go Chipper posted instructions about how to create a box for storing a rock collection from a recycled egg carton. Perfect! My son collects rocks everywhere we go. So we made the storage container this week… Interested in doing this with your child? You’ll find the instructions here… Chipper Recycle…

I associate summer with water. My childhood summer days were spent mostly in the pool, splashing around with friends, jumping repeatedly from the diving board, or doing laps during swim team practice. Later, as an adult, my vision of summertime has continued to revolve around water, changing form depending upon where I was living at…

A visit to the Conservatory of Flowers in San Francisco has been on our to-do list for a couple months, ever since the Plantosaurus Rex: Prehistoric Plants exhibit opened a couple months ago. Our five-year-old son is still loving anything dinosaur-related, so a visit here was a must-do. We were warned that the roaring of…

What an incredible selection from the tropics. Beautiful gardens, worth a visit! Interested in going? The Conservatory of Flowers is located in Golden Gate Park, near other popular museums and destinations (California Academy of Sciences, de Young Museum). For current admission fee and hours, visit the website… http://www.conservatoryofflowers.org/visit/hours. This is an indoor museum, and, need…

We have a new bird visiting our yard this week. And it’s a pretty one… a female Black-Headed Grosbeak. Apparently this bird has a beautiful voice. I hope to hear it one of these days! *** Related: Attract Wildlife to Your Home – Create a Backyard Wildlife Habitat

While visiting Redwood Regional Park in Oakland yesterday morning, I made a fun discovery. We were meeting friends for some nature playtime, and they were running a half hour late. While waiting, my son was having fun riding his bike up and down the paved path while I was strolling along behind him, enjoying this…

I want to send out a big thank you to everyone who voted for me in the Circle of Moms contest, Top 25 Photographer Moms 2012! I finished in 8th place out of 73 entries. Thank you!! You all are awesome!

While at Lake Tahoe on Friday, we drove over the border into Nevada and hiked down to a relatively secluded little beach. Our son has experience a few alpine lakes over his short life, but he hasn’t seen one the size of Lake Tahoe (the largest alpine lake in North America). He kept asking if…

“Nature, like a kind and smiling mother, lends herself to our dreams and cherishes our fancies.” Victor Hugo *** Or a kind and smiling father! *** I accepted the challenge to use this quote from Robin over at Bringing Europe Home… “Quotes from the Masters: Hugo” . Love her blog!! Related articles Quotes from the…

Looking for nature-oriented indoor fun to do on a too-hot or a rainy day? Try the local rock climbing gym! We started taking our son when he was four. It’s a great way to burn some energy, strengthen that upper body, and let the kids go crazy climbing in a safe environment. My son…

What child could resist playing hide and seek in this redwood forest? Can you find them? At Roberts Regional Park, Oakland… http://www.ebparks.org/parks/roberts. *** You may also enjoy… Nature Play, Roberts Regional Park, Oakland (anaturemom.com)

I’m currently reading the book, What the Robin Knows: How Birds Reveal the Secrets of the Natural World, by Jon Young, which is about awakening our awareness of the behavior of birds in order to deepen our connection with all the wildlife surrounding us. Ultimately, the author is helping us to reconnect with our own…

Yesterday, I wrote about our visit to the Randall Museum (see post here… “The Randall Museum, San Francisco”). Whenever I visit a museum, I also like to schedule some outdoor play or exploration. The Randall Museum is an excellent spot for indoor and outdoor nature fun, but we enhanced the experience by taking an Urbia…

The competition for the “Top 25 Photographer Moms – 2012″ contest is almost over. Voting closes July 10th at 4:00pm PST. My blog is currently in 9th place out of 71 blog entries, and I’d love to stay in the top ten. Please take a moment to vote.. it will truly only take a few…

The Randall Museum in San Francisco was created to be a place where children can handle, see, and learn about animals and other living things through hands-on experiences, as well as be exposed to different kinds of arts and crafts. The museum has no entry fee, though memberships are offered to provide a discount on…

The best way for me to relax and unwind is to head out the front door for a walk with my camera. Here are a few photos from my walk earlier this week. I wasn’t able to capture any images with my camera, but the highlight of this walk was while I was in the…

My favorite hike to do in Yosemite National Park with our five-year-old son, so far, has been Sentinel Dome. Every year, starting when he was 6 weeks old, we’ve been taking him up here. He’s been able to do the hike on his own, without us carrying him, since he was two. The hike to…